Samira wrote:
the number 4 resembles the Chinese character for death
The pronunciation for 'clock' also resembles the pronunciation for death. In China, it is considered a major faux pas to give someone a clock as a gift.
A few years ago I was in Beijing touring the
summer palace and there was a building completely full of clocks. Our tour guide told us that one of the former Chinese emperors had pissed off the leaders of some other countries (I believe the US was among them) and they had started routinely sending him clocks as gifts.
I'm sure I have a picture of it around here somewhere.
EDIT: The similarity between 'clock' and 'death' is in how they are pronounced, not in the visual representation. Actually, I believe that 'give you a clock' sounds a lot like 'wish you were dead' or something like that. Edited, Tue Apr 25 11:09:13 2006 by CrescentFresh